When God moves, everything can be transformed

Every day we’re asking four questions about part of the Bible. Today Bern Leckie answers:

What did I like about today’s passage?

I love how Ezekiel’s vision of restoration gets bigger and bigger. Yesterday’s passage was all about the fine details of the symbols of worship, centred around a small altar, surrounded by not-huge buildings and courtyards. But here we see this is to be set in a sacred plot of land over 100 square kilometres. What God starts in a small space can affect a huge area.

If you read the end of the Bible, in Revelation, you will find a description of a city which echoes this, showing where God’s kingdom movement is heading – bigger. Much bigger! The prophet in Revelation 21 marks New Jerusalem as bigger than Europe, over 2,000 kilometres long and wide and… high! (That’s 5 times higher than the International Space Station!)

My favourite bit in Ezekiel might be the picture of the river flowing from the temple, initially ankle deep, then knee deep, then waist deep, then too deep! And with this fresh water comes life, transforming the Dead Sea where it enters, bringing “swarms of living creatures” wherever it flows. Along the side, incredible fruit trees which are always in season, bringing everlasting supplies of food and healing. God’s movement is not an inward-looking one, simply requiring loyalty to God, but an outward-flowing one, promising blessing for the world.

The take-home message? In a world where most societies had many, many gods, don’t think that this unusual movement around one God was small or only involved a few people for a “religion” part of their lives. Don’t imagine that it could be contained in small places of worship at special times, or kept in one group, tribe or nation. When God moves, he can break through any barrier we have, changing us and transforming the world.

What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?

God does not think small! He showed Ezekiel snapshots of his kingdom work across a stretch of time, and this was amazing enough. When we connect it with the rest of the Bible, we can see God’s whole-of-life plans to transform us, and whole-of-history plan to renew and restore the world. The scale of the big picture with God can be dizzying, hard to take in.

But I think I can see a constant theme which is part of how God works. He starts with little things and grows them. Just as humanity grew from a small number, and a nation of faith grew from one man’s family, God’s world-changing work has a source we can grasp. We believe and follow one man, Jesus, and his Spirit comes to live in our hearts, making us “temples” (1 Corinthians 6). What the Spirit does in us flows out like life-bringing water, just as it did from the temple Ezekiel saw.

God might never show us visions like Ezekiel’s, and we may never see all the effects of the life and love God wants to pour through us into our relationships, families, workplaces and communities. But God only needs us to love him, trust and obey him, and let him flow.

What am I going to do differently as a result?

Thank God that his big plans involve love and new life for us, and commit to go with his flow.

Who am I going to share this with?

There are people I know outside church who need refreshment right now, so with them.